Umara Music Studio launched for aspiring singers

August 16, 2017 - 08:28

Umara Sinhawansa, the international award-winning singer, songwriter and producer, launched Umara Music Studio (UMS), a modern academy that provides music and vocal training for aspiring singers of all ages.

Umara Music Studio is conveniently located at 348/1 Pannipitiya Road, Pelawatte, Battaramulla with easy access. The Studio focuses on all aspects of vocal training such as vocal flexibility, vocal projection, vocal range, pitching as well as breathing techniques and performance.

The variety of courses offered by UMS is tailored to suit the requirements of the students and includes 6-month and 12-month Certificate courses supported with comprehensive vital training. The students can take specially designed short courses from 1-month and upt 3-month courses. All sessions are conducted by Umara as individual or group classes with a very limited number of students to ensure personalised attention, greater interactivity with detailed focus given.

In addition to the courses offered, UMS organizes regular workshops that are catered towards aspiring singers from the wider population who are unable to attend routine courses. Periodically leading local singers such Bathiya, Santhush, Umaria and many other industry expertise are brought in, to conduct sessions where the students will gain valuable insights to nurture their talents.

Plans are also underway to tie up with leading singers from overseas to conduct similar sessions and share their global experiences in creating music. In terms of the special needs and autistic children, the UMS approach is to provide “music therapy” which utilizes music as a platform for parents to spend quality time with their children to build the bond between them using various proven techniques.

UMS provides a host of modern facilities that makes it the ideal destination for not only the students but also for the parents to spend time while their children attend training sessions. The UMS premise is fully air-conditioned and equipped with rehearsal rooms, changing rooms with showers, waiting room, play area for children and refreshments with free Wi-Fi.

Born to professional musicians Tony and Ayesha Sinhawansa, Umara grew up being exposed to all genres of music – from jazz to hip hop to classic to RnB. Her passion and talent for singing was evident at a very young age and during her school days she won many singing competitions including first place at the All-Island Singing Competition of Sri Lanka. She made her first recording at the age of 10 along with her sister Umaria and made her very first on-stage performance at the age of 13.

Umara represented Sri Lanka at two international singing competitions held in Kazakhstan and China, bagging 3 awards in the process. In 2011, Umara along with her sister Umaria won the Bronze Award at the Crimea Music Festival held in Ukraine where they battled against competitors from 25 countries from around the world, making it one of the biggest international singing competitions at the time.

Umara is the youngest female artist in Sri Lanka to have collaborated with the legendary international artist Shankar Mahadevan also known as Shankar Ehsaan Loy. She was also the first female and the youngest Music Audio Engineer in Sri Lanka, until she left for Hong Kong a few years ago to pursue her music career in art of jazz music. During a 6-year stint in Hong Kong, she became a popular figure in the jazz music industry while performing with her band Proteus prior to returning to Sri Lanka earlier this year.

Speaking at the launch, Co-Founder of Umara Music Studio, Umara Sinhawansa elaborated on her passion for music, stating, “Music is a common language that makes us meet each other emotionally and it is indeed a blessing to be gifted with the talent and ability to reach out to so many people through my music. I have always had the dream of finding a way to utilise my gifted abilities in music to help uplift Sri Lanka’s talent while pushing them to realize their true potential right up to the international arena. I am delighted to say that the unveiling of Umara Music Studio, makes this dream come true. At UMS, it’s about having fun while we do some serious vocal work. I believe that through the work we do, we will soon be able to discover some of the best talents that Sri Lanka has yet to offer.”

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